2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings

The 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings occurred on the morning and afternoon of 21 April 2019 in Negombo, Colombo, Dehiwala, and Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, when seven members of National Thowheeth Jama'ath carried out suicide bombings at three churches and three luxury hotels. At least 290 people were killed and over 500 were wounded in the first major terrorist attack in the country since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.

On the morning 21 April 2019, Christians across the island attended Easter worship services at their churches. At 8:00 AM, the first blast took place in the historic Shrine of St. Anthony Church in the capital of Colombo, and more than 50 Catholic churchgoers were killed. The second blast took place at St. Sebastian's Church in the Christian-majority suburb of Negombo, and the third church to be bombed was the Protestant Zion Church in Batticaloa, where 27 people (including 9 tourists) were killed. At the same time as the churches, three five-star hotels on the Colombo beachfront were bombed: the Shangri-La Hotel, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, and The Kingsbury. The Shangri-La bomber Insan Seelavan struck at 8:57 AM, bombing the Table One Restaurant during a breakfast full of foreign tourists. Mohamed Azzam Mohamed had checked into the Cinnamon Grand Hotel the night before under the pretense of being on a business trip, and he entered the Taprobane restaurant's breakfast buffet, where he detonated explosives strapped to his back as he was about to be served. At 2:10 PM, the reception hall of a guest house at the Tropical Inn Hotel was bombed, killing two guests. The last bombing occurred at 2:40 and 3:20 PM, with suspects blowing themselves up during police raids; three police officers were killed. Eight people were arrested in Dematagoda in connection to the attacks, and five more suspects were arrested that night.